Low-frequency Raman signature of Ag-intercalated few-layer MoS${}_2$

Abstract

Density functional theory based calculations and experimental analysis on a limited number of real samples are performed to study how the presence of silver intercalated in the van der Waals gap of few-layer MoS${}_2$ affects the low-frequency Raman active modes of this material. Silver is found to predominantly affect the breathing-like and shear-like vibrational modes of MoS${}_2$. These modes correspond to quasi-rigid movements of each individual layer with a restoring force (and, in turn, frequency) that is determined by modulations in the weak interlayer interactions. Noticeable red-shifts with increasing Ag concentration are found for all low-frequency modes. This finding indicates the potential for low-frequency vibrations as useful gauges for practical determination of silver concentration using low-frequency Raman spectroscopy. This work also describes a semi-classical linear chain model that allows to extrapolate results to a large number of layers. Further, first-principles calculations show how Raman spectroscopy can be used to characterize the quality of the two-dimensional interface between MoS${}_2$ and a silver substrate.

References in corpus (3)

• Symmetry-dependent phonon renormalization in monolayer MoS2 transistor
• Helicity resolved Raman scattering of MoS2, MoSe2, WS2 and WSe2 atomic layers
• Interlayer bond polarizability model for stacking-dependent low-frequency Raman scattering in layered materials